Kathy Berdan / St. Paul Pioneer Press

Primary tabs

Author Content

ST. PAUL — The deep, friendly voice and black frame glasses that have meant sports for Minnesotans for 50 years is retiring from WCCO-TV. Sports broadcaster Mark Rosen started at the television station when he was a junior in high school. That’s long before Twins favorite Joe Mauer was swinging his baby bottle. Before the Timberwolves and the Wild were found in Twin Cities arenas instead of in nature. Before the Twins scored World Series victories in 1987 and 1991. Before the Vikings were wearing Super Bowl rings (oh, wait …).

ST. PAUL — It's something of a Dairy Dynasty. Rebekka Paskewitz, the 65th Princess Kay of the Milky Way to have her likeness carved from a block of butter on the first day of the Minnesota State Fair, has two cousins who were dairy industry royalty. After she was crowned Wednesday night, Aug. 22, "people said they could remember when I was so little I could barely walk, but I wanted to be Princess Kay."

ST. PAUL — Some of the biggest stars of the Minnesota State Fair showed up Wednesday, Aug. 22, to get properly settled in before the gates open. Media gathered. Police stopped traffic. The fish for the Department of Natural Resources Fish Pond had arrived. The finny Fair stars arrived in metal tanks in the back of pickup trucks and were lifted in nets into the clear, shallow pond near the DNR Building at the Fair. Cameras clicked and rolled.

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Aside from stalwart animal-lovers who wanted to watch live dog and cat surgeries in the Pet Center or skateboarders looking to catch some new twists, the north end of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds hasn't drawn a lot of traffic. Nothing like the clustered corridors flanking the Food Building or streets leading to the barns or Grandstand. But when the 2018 Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday, Aug. 23, in Falcon Heights, fairgoers may want to head that way.

ST. PAUL—New vendors, new buildings, new rides, new livestock shows and even a new bathroom — the Minnesota State Fair announced on Wednesday, July 18, a pile of new attractions for 2018. Here are a few highlights: • A 6,600-square-foot open-air pavilion located just west of the former Pet Center will house purebred dog breed booths and the Pet Surgery Suite, where Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association members will spay and neuter animals. A neighboring structure will feature pet-centric merchandise.

ST. PAUL — In early March, Prior Lake, Minn., publicist Becca Kufrin was the winner on the ABC show "The Bachelor" and bride-to-be of bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. And then he turned around and broke it off to be with the runner-up. "Bachelor" Nation was shocked! But Kufrin gets another shot at love starting Monday, May 28, when she is the center of the opposite gender reality/romance show "The Bachelorette."

MINNEAPOLIS—A really, really big deal, a big deal last year, and a couple of big deals from years ago are the core of Hennepin Theatre Trust's 2018-19 "Broadway on Hennepin" season. The really, really big deal is — of course — the regional debut of the blockbuster musical "Hamilton." While it's no secret that a touring production of the award-winning "Hamilton" is part of the Minneapolis theater season, the dates are official with today's announcement. "Hamilton" kicks off the season at the Orpheum and runs for six weeks, Aug. 29-Oct. 7.

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — St. Paul artist Kristi Abbott has been named the 2018 Minnesota State Fair commemorative artist. Her original interpretation of the Fair will be used on 2018 poster and promotional materials. It will be unveiled in June. Abbott made her first trip to the Great Minnesota Get-Together when she traveled from Australia to visit family in Minnesota when she was just 4 years old, according to a State Fair news release. "I can still remember the sense of wonder I had," said Abbott, now a St. Paul resident and frequent State Fair visitor.

ST. PAUL — The 2018 St. Paul Winter Carnival's seven-story ice palace received a warm welcome when it was announced Thursday afternoon, Dec. 21. Previous plans for a showcase, record-breaking ice palace on the state Capitol grounds to coincide with Super Bowl festivities in Minneapolis were dropped in October after the millions of dollars needed for the project couldn't be raised.

St. PAUL — Though plans for a massive, record-breaking ice palace for the 2018 St. Paul Winter Carnival melted a couple of months ago when the millions of dollars needed to build it couldn't be raised, organizers announced Thursday, Dec. 21, that a "People's Ice Palace" will be built in Rice Park. A free, seven-story ice palace will be part of the annual winter celebration, which will be extended an extra week (Jan. 25-Feb. 10) to coincide with Super Bowl LII festivities in Minneapolis.